


The Beginning of a New Life

by thesalsagamer396



Series: Blackwatch Jazz [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackwatch Era, Dad Gabe, Gabe does most of it on purpose, Gabe is half the reason for the stress, Gen, I mean let's be honest, Jack is stressed out, Jesse can't read, if you squint you can see a hint of Reaper76
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 02:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10066898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesalsagamer396/pseuds/thesalsagamer396
Summary: Gabe took in a stray. Jack isn't too happy about it.





	

The door slammed. The poor boy in the office jumped out of his skin. The man at the desk was surprised to see the man at the door. Said man at the door was fuming. The men at the back of the room were shocked.

The man at the door was Strike Commander Jack Morrison. And he was pissed off.

Jesse McCree practically leaped over the desk and hid behind his future commanding officer Gabriel Reyes. He was shaking with fear of the blonde.

“Just what do you think you’re doing Gabriel?! Letting in the enemy into your ranks! How do you know he won’t backstab you in the future?!”

“Jack, we’ve been over this before. Now get out of my office and let me do my job. I know what I’m doing. The last thing I need is more interference from your end of this whole program.”

Jesse was astounded by his future superior’s calm demeanor. Like he’s done this before. How could anyone stay calm with the leader of Overwatch shouting at them?!

“You’re gonna take the word of a Deadlock and pray he doesn’t shoot your head clean off?!”

Gabriel turned his body to look at Jesse. The future recruit hiding behind him to avoid Jack’s piercing glare was lanky and shaking with fear over the strike commander. Quite literally quaking in his boots. Sweat formed little droplets that slowly slid down his dirt-caked face. He was dressed like a cowboy, talked like one, walked like one. But right now, he wasn’t acting like one. Many “brave” men were stricken in fear from the presence of the blonde and the power he held. Their true colors would always reveal themselves in front of him.

And here was Jesse’s true self. A scared kid. A kid who had nowhere to run and only one place to hide. With Deadlock. And now his hiding spot had been exposed. This was a kid that didn’t want to die, but has seen what death looks like. He just wanted to be safe from everything the world would throw at him because he had no right place to stay. This was a complete contrast to the punk that he met on Route 66. The one hollering and whooping as Gabriel’s men fell to their knees one by one, no matter how well they tried to get out of the way of whoever was shooting them. The one that spit on his boots even when he was held at gunpoint. The one that did everything in his power to seem like he meant something to Deadlock even though he was treated like the gum stuck on their shoe.

Jesse McCree was the last person that would kill him right now.

Gabriel turned back to Jack, glaring daggers into the blonde with fervor. “Yeah. I’ll take my chances on the kid. Is that all, Goldilocks?” The little man looked at the latino super soldier in awe. No one had ever stood up for him. Not even any of his “pals” at Deadlock.

“Gabriel Reyes, you’re making a huge mistake!”

“Not as big as another mistake I’ve made.”

“Which would be?”

“Letting you…” Whatever he was going to stay, he thought against it and decided to go with something else with a shake of his head. “Letting you stay this long in my office. Now please. Get out. I have a couple papers for the kid to sign.”

Jesse noticed that their expressions had softened. There was something about Reyes’ hesitation that had them both back up from an unspoken line that should never be crossed. The way they looked at each other was apologetic. There was an unspoken truce between the two of them.

He wasn’t stupid. He had an idea of where Gabriel was going with it.

Jack let out a sigh. “Fine…” He straightened his back, looked at Jesse for a moment, and left the room without another word.

When Jesse came back around to the front of the desk, Gabriel had a paper for him. It looked like a bunch squiggly lines to him. But at the bottom, there was a line with an X on the end. A contract.

“Go over this. If you think you can handle all of this, go ahead and sign on the line.”

Jesse picked up the paper. Looking at it made his head hurt. He looked up at Gabriel, eyes sullen and guilty.

“You…You don’t know how to read, do you?”

“W-Well, Ah…Ah know how to read! Honest! But, uh…Ah need readin’ glasses! Yeah, dassit!” The cowboy looked super nervous. He really wanted to sell that notion. But, it was also the notion that Reyes was an idiot.

Which he’s not.

“Kid, this place requires you to be a man. And the first thing you should do to prove that you are one is to man up and admit you can’t read. I understand.”

“No ye don’t…Ahm 17, ‘n Ah can’t even spell mah own name…Reckon thass gotta be super embarrassin’ for a feller mah age…”

“You grew up with Deadlock, right? I bet they didn’t want their kid to grow up being smart. That might mean he’ll know that there are better options for him out there. And the more the brat knows, the better he will get. Knowledge is power, after all.”

“Ah guess it worked, then…How ‘m Ah supposed to join ye kind folks if Ah can’t even read…? Ah reckon Ah got…zero idea of what Ahm gettin int’, sir.”

“Hmm…I’ll tell you what, Vaquero. I’ll teach you how to read. In the meantime, you can do some intern things. You know, getting coffee and all that. And I’ll teach you to read the contract when I’m free. When you can clearly understand every word on this paper, I’ll let you sign it.”

Jesse looked shocked. Not only was he being offered Sanctuary, but he would be learning while he stayed? All while doing safe work? It seemed way too good to be true.

“What’s the catch? Ah know that deals like this don’t come without no catch. Like blondie said, Ahm the enemy! Ahm with Deadlock! Why would Overwatch be willin’ t’ help some deadbeat kid like me…?”

Gabriel studied the cowboy’s body tone. It was completely covered in self-guilt and self-depreciation. “You’re making the assumption that you’re joining Overwatch. You’re not,” he said, a smirk growing on his face as Jesse’s shoulders sagged down. “This is Blackwatch, vaquero. This is where all the dirty work happens. Overwatch? They’re Girl Scouts compared to us. We get our hands bloody so that Overwatch looks good. And don’t think we don’t have criminals here. I welcome them. They aren’t afraid to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. No matter where they come from.”

The way Jesse’s eyes lit up was almost adorable. They sparkled with admiration and inspiration for the man. “Y-Ye mean it, sir?! Yer not pullin’ mah leg?”

“Never took in a kid before, though. But on the battlefield out there? You have a lot of potential. So, no. I am not pulling your leg. The moment you can read this contract, you can sign it. Then the real job happens.”

“Well Ah am _not_ just doin’ lame paper pushin’, coffee fetchin’ work! Ah wanna shoot things! Ye know Ahm good at that!”

“There will be training. But are you sure you want me to train you?”

“What, you thinkin’ Ahm some yella-belly? Yeah, Ah want you t’ train me!”

Fear struck Jesse down to the core at the grin on Reyes’ face. The way a fire lit behind his eyes. That cold chuckle that had to have come from the belly. “Oh you’ll grow out of that soon, perrito. Very very soon.”


End file.
